Large capacity loader bucket



Feb. 20, 1968 R. A. PETERSON ,3

LARGE CAPACITY LOADER BUCKET Filed July 18, 1966 INVENTOR ROBERT A. PETERSON ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,369,680 LARGE CAPACITY LOADER BUCKET Robert A. Peterson, San Leandro, Calif., assignor to Caterpillar Tractor Co., Peoria, Ill., a corporation of California Filed July 18, 1966, Ser. No. 566,061 1 Claim. (Cl. 214145) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tractor mounted loader bucket designed for increased capacity, better balance, improved loading, and load distribution as compared to standard buckets and having in particular a bucket which has re-entrant chambers in its rear wall to enable forward positioning of the bucket lift arms, and a central portion extending rearwardly between the lift arms.

Great care must be taken, to accomplish efiicient operation of loaders, to match the bucket design to the tractor characteristics. Weight, balance and power must be taken into consideration in order to utilize a maximum of available power without sacrificing speed and efficiency. Many loaders are designed for a combination of digging and carrying functions and power is required for digging in excess of that required for simply loading, lifting and carrying. In the handling of loose materials, the power required for cutting into and loading heavy or sticky earths is not required. Consequently, where a loader is intended to be used solely or even principally for the bandling of aggregates and other dry bulky materials, efliciency can be increased by increasing the bucket size.

To increase the bucket size on a given tractor, would ordinarily call for redesign of the bucket supporting means including the lift and tilt mechanisms and their power components along with tractor rebalance. Otherwise, the bucket and tractor would be ill-matched and inefiicient.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a bucket of large capacity which can be used interchangeably with a standard bucket improving the loading characteristics without altering the lift and tilt linkage or basic tractor and without sacrificing loader efficiency. Further and more specific objects and advantages of the invention are made apparent in the following specification wherein the invention is described in detail by reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of a tractor mounted loader with a bucket constructed in accordance with the present invention with parts broken away and with a bucket illustrated in full lines in its load position and in broken lines in its carry position;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the bucket of the present invention.

Referring first to FIG. 1, a conventional wheel type tractor is generally shown at as having a bucket, generally shown at 11, carried at its forward end on lift arms 12 which are pivoted to the bucket as at 14 while tilt linkage, generally indicated at 16, has pivotal connections with the bucket as indicated at 18. Lift jacks, not shown but of conventional form, are employed to raise the lift arms for elevating the bucket to the carry position shown in broken lines. Tilt jacks, one of which is shown at 19, are associated with the tilt linkage for swinging the bucket between load, carry and dump positions as the occasion requires, all in accordance with conventional practice.

A conventional bucket designed for use on the tractor and with the lift and tilt mechanism illustrated, is of such a size that the pivots 14 and 18 are disposed just to the rear of the rear bucket wall. In accordance with the present invention, the capacity of the bucket 11 has been increased by extending the central portion of the rear bucket wall rearwardly between the lift and tilt mechanisms as shown at 21. Furthermore, the rear portion of the bucket adjacent its opposite ends has been extended rearwardly as illustrated at 22, thus increasing the capacity of the bucket materially and providing in effect what may be considered re-entrant chambers in the back of the bucket shown at 24 in FIG. 2 and each comprising spaced walls between which the pivotal connections 14 and 18 of the lift and tilt mechanisms extend. The leading corners 23 of the re-entrant chambers 24 are chamfered for ease of entry of material into the rearwardly extending chambers. The end portions 22 are of less depth than the central portion 21 in order to provide space for the front wheels of the tractor.

The forward walls of the re-entrant chambers occupy substantially the same position that is occupied by the rear wall of a standard bucket. Consequently, the rearwardly extending chambers at both ends of the bucket and centrally of the bucket represent a great part of the increased bucket capacity. This has been accomplished without changing the configuration of the lift and tilt mechanisms and without extending the cutting edge 26 of the bucket forwardly which would create an imbalance and an increased moment arm while the bucket was being raised. Furthermore, the forward extension of the cutting edge 26 would require greater breakout force which is necessary for racking the bucket backwardly after it is loaded and this would require bigger or more powerful tilt jacks 19.

In the development of the bucket illustrated, it was found desirable to modify the forward, upper edge of the bucket which, in conventional practice, extends on a straight line between the upper, forward corners of the bucket side walls. In the present case, this upper edge has ben curved upwardly and reinforced as herein shown by a tubular bar 28. This modification was made as it was found that upon crowding into a supply of material to be loaded, the bucket would often be filled to its upper edge before the rearward extensions 21 and 22 were filled. Consequently, upon being racked back the bucket was found not to carry a full load. By arching the forward, upper edge upwardly as illustrated, more material enters the bucket during the crowding cycle and by manipulating the bucket tilt in short strokes during the rack back cycle, it is found that the entire bucket is readily loaded to capacity. Furthermore, the lift and tilt mechanisms originally designed for digging in hard earth have the necessary lift and carry capacity to handle the greatly increased 4 Wall portions extending beyond the said pivotal connec- References Cited tions, and chambers re-entrant from ghe back wall and UNITED STATES PATENTS including said pivotal connections, sai re-entrant charnbers dividing the bucket into two rearwardly extending 708587 9/1902 Robmson 214'145 portions adjacent its ends and a central rearwardly extend- 5 2,180,348 11/1939 Daniels 214145 ing portion, and said central portion being deeper than the 2335397 5/1958 Wagner 214774 end portions and extending rearwardly a substantial dis- 2978124 4/1961 Bel-news 214-774 X tance beyond the ends of the lift arms to afford large bucket capacity HUGO O. SCHULZ, Przmary Exammer. 

